It’s a time of transition at Sporting News, as Sean Gentille, the poor soul who has had to edit these Tweetbags, becomes the national hockey writer and I move over to baseball. When this was announced on Friday, a tweet came my way from @DSF456, asking, “What does your new gig mean for #AskSpector?” The answer is: nothing (Ed. note: OH THANK GOD).

The Tweetbag lives, because, as has always been the case, all subjects are fair game. There are sure to be more baseball questions from this point forward, but today, it’s a mix of hockey, baseball, and all the rest of the usual, well, let’s say mirth and merriment. It’s also the last time that Sean has to edit one of these, so that should be a lot of fun (Ed. note: Yep, "baseball minutia" is what this has been missing). As usual, you, the readers, did not disappoint with the questions you sent in with the #AskSpector hashtag. Let’s get to the answers!

@Shoreaux asks: “thing you’re looking forward to most about the hockey-to-baseball switch?”

The obvious thing is that I’ve never covered the World Series, and that should be pretty awesome. What I’m really looking forward to, though, is the fact that baseball teams play in the same city for three or four days in a row. As a writer who enjoys doing features, this is great because it relieves some of the inherent pressure of trying to pack all the face-to-face interviews for a particular story into one day.

@PITmounD asks: “What will you miss most about covering hockey full time? Bonus: best hot dog topping?”

I’ll miss the distraction from the fact that winter is long, cold and awful. It doesn’t seem so bad when you’ve got games to go to all the time. I’m not sure yet what else I’ll miss; I think of answers like “the friends I’ve made covering hockey,” but it’s not like I’m going to Saturn. I’ll still be in touch with people because that’s one of the wonderful things about the age we live in. The best hot dog topping is high-quality chili.

@Jacob_Born asks: “If you could, what would you name the divisions?”

Pacific, Central and Atlantic are pretty standard (although there’s not much “Atlantic” about Detroit), but what is this Metropolitan nonsense that the NHL has foisted upon the world? I had been going with PatrickPlus for what became the Metropolitan, Flortheast for the Atlantic, #conferenceIII for the Central, and The Other One for the Pacific, and those are the names I’ll probably stick with in my mind. I never much cared for the notion of naming the divisions after living legends—Gretzky, Hull, Orr, Lemieux—because it would be really weird for, say, the Flyers to put up a “Lemieux Division Champions” banner, but Metropolitan? Come on. I really wouldn’t have had a problem with going back to Smythe, Norris, Adams and Patrick (Ed. note: Or National and American).

Take advantage of whatever opportunities you get to write. Don’t try to be anyone else—just be yourself. For sports beats specifically, recognize that there are a limited number of these jobs, and people don’t like to give them up, so patience and persistence can pay off. Realize that there is always more that you don’t know than there is that you do know, and be prepared to learn from anyone. Eat better than I do.

@bcgalore asks: “Baseball, eh? Explain the game to an Australian in 100 words or less (or more, I’m not your boss)” (Ed. note: Too easy).

There are nine innings, with each team getting three outs per inning. Runs are scored differently than in cricket, but I don’t know enough about cricket to really explain the differences in the game other than that bases are laid out on a rhombus (Ed. note: Isn't it a square? Are all squares rhombuses? I'm not going to look this up.) rather than wickets on a straight line, there is no break for tea, and games (aside from when the Yankees and Red Sox play each other) do not last quite as long. There are more Aussies in baseball than in hockey.

@PrimoFox asks: “what sport have you never covered that you would love a chance to cover.”

Australian rules football. I do not understand anything about that sport other than how points are awarded, but it looks like magnificent fun on television, and I think that even not understanding it, covering the experience of one of those games—perhaps the pageantry of the AFL Grand Final—would be a blast. Going back to the last question, maybe we can have an exchange program.

@alexsemin asks: “Dear @jessespector: who are the most enigmatic players in MLB?”

The last player born in Russia to appear in the major leagues, according to baseball-reference.com, was Victor Cole, who was born in Leningrad in 1968 and went 0-2 with a 5.48 ERA in eight games for the 1992 Pirates. That means that, by the traditional hockey definition, where “enigmatic” is a placeholder for “Russian,” there are no enigmatic players in MLB right now. That said, Alex Rios got benched for not hustling to first base the other day, so by the secondary definition of “guy who would get ripped by Mike Milbury for a perceived lack of effort,” there’s your answer.

@95Sports asks: “With the World’s Finest movie announced, outside of Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who should be Batman?”

I’d like to see Kevin James as Batman, although it should be noted that I’m a Superman fan.

It’s sad, but the last home game in 2004 sticks with me. The crowd was amazing, even though it was 9-1 in favor of the Marlins, and when Tony Batista came out of the game in the sixth inning, he got a standing ovation, and he stood outside the dugout and raised his arms and took it all in. Yes, that Tony Batista. It was incredible, and when the game ended, nobody wanted to leave. People may not have gone to a lot of games in Montreal, but it was not for a lack of passion. There were 31,395 people at Stade Olympique that day, loud as could be all night, and I’m so glad I got to be there.

@jotro asks: “Sammy Hagar, or David Lee Roth?”

As a Van Halen frontman, David Lee Roth. In every other category, Sammy Hagar. (Ed. note: What other category matters? Tequila pitchmen?)

@ZCaptain36 asks: “USA is full of leaders in 2014, Cally, Brown, Suter, Parise, etc. Who do you think gets the C and A’s?”

Don’t forget David Backes in that conversation. I don’t think Team USA can go wrong with whomever is selected to wear the letters in Sochi, and I’m not sure how you guess at who’s going to get them. You’re right, there are a lot of leaders. I think it will become more evident who is thought of as a leader among that particular group once the team comes together, starting with next month’s camp.

Personally, I’m looking forward to seeing Ovechkin play center, defense, and goalie so that he can be named to the all-NHL team at every position.

I voted for him to win the Hart Trophy this year, and as my first-team choice at right wing, the position he played this season, but over the course of his career, he’s been one heck of a left wing. So, my answer is shortstop.

I’ll miss Centre Bell in Montreal the most because it’s the best place to watch a hockey game, and baseball travel won’t take me there until the Expos make their glorious return. I’m looking forward to seeing the new baseball park in Minnesota, home of next year’s All-Star Game, as well as any other ballparks I haven’t been to—a list led by San Francisco.

@joaoacastro asks: “Do you play videogames? Which?”

The game I play most frequently these days is Bejeweled on my phone. I have an Xbox, but video game controllers have gotten too complicated for me, having grown up with the simplicity of Nintendo. The last video game I was really into was MVP Baseball 2003 on the PlayStation 2. I took the Padres to the World Series and Kevin Jarvis had a 30-win season.

@DidWeWinYet96 asks: “Are you buying the Phillies are dead?”

As of this morning, the Phillies are 49-50, 6.5 games out of first place in both the National League East and the wild-card race. They needed to come out of the All-Star break with a better result than losing two of three to the Mets, but they’re not dead yet. Similarly shoddy performances this week in St. Louis and Detroit, though, will put the Phillies in a position where they would be well advised to be big-time sellers at the trade deadline.

@kswanger1975 asks: “has any teacher mispronounced your last name as Spectator? Jesse Spectator”

No. Not once in all the years I went to school. A few kids intentionally mispronounced my name that way, but as far as name-based stupid insults among kids go, Messy Jesse was way more common (Ed. note: I've got a few better ones).

I’d sooner see baseball have ties than hope to see a home run derby after 10 innings.

@totalhater asks: “What are your expectations for Jozy at Sunderland? 2014 EPL title and 2015 Champions League glory?”

I don’t know if I’ve ever been more excited about a player signing with a team than I have been about Jozy Altidore, the U.S. national team’s striker, going to Sunderland, which hasn’t had an American since Claudio Reyna, shortly after I became a fan. I’m trying to keep my expectations in check, not least of all because Sunderland has a history of being wildly disappointing. So, my expectation for this season is avoiding a relegation battle and building from there. Maybe a 2015 league title and 2016 Champions League!

@GJFKessler: “If Teemu Selanne played baseball, which position would he have started the All-Star game at?”

Selanne is 43, so at this point in his career, I would think that he likely would be serving as a first baseman or a designated hitter.

@Breakthecycle2 asks: “Step Brothers are Talladega Nights?”

Ricky Bobby and Cal Naughton Jr. were not step brothers in The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, but very close friends who had a rough patch that proved central to the plot of the film. Wait, I’m thinking that “are” was supposed to be an “or,” and in that case, I have not seen Step Brothers because it looked terrible and nobody ever told me it wasn’t (Ed. note: I did), so I’ll go with Talladega Nights.

@mynamesbill asks: “Do you think CT and Diem will end up together this season?”

This season of MTV’s Challenge is two episodes old, and CT and Diem, the on-again, off-again couple, have already had a romantic moment. CT also had a fling with a contestant who was then quickly eliminated. I think that if CT and Diem didn’t wind up together after they were teammates on Battle of the Exes, it’s going to be very difficult for them to make it work on Rivals II, especially because Diem and Aneesa don’t strike me as the strongest team in the game—I expect them to get a good way into things, but not make the final challenge.

@JaJaJaJasonnnn asks: “Black Flag or Discharge?”

Black Flag, both for music and for the killing of roaches. I’m not sure if Discharge is actually the name of a pesticide, but it should be. Is there a band called Raid?

@PKJM887 asks: “Tim Horton’s or Dunkin’ Donuts?”

I’m fortunate enough to live in New York, where we have both, and I’ll say Tim’s for the donuts, Dunkin’ Donuts for everything but the donuts, which is counterintuitive since Dunkin’ Donuts has “Donuts” in its name, but I think there’s a reason that they’ve branched out to egg sandwiches and the like.

@coreypronman asks: “why do you hate hockey”

I don’t. I really don’t. I love hockey. I’m just moving on to cover baseball.

@Jabber28 asks: “Pick one goalie and one forward from any era, in their prime for a penalty shot. Who ya got?”

I’ll take Mike Richter and Pavel Bure. I was 13 during the 1994 playoffs, and I could watch that penalty shot a thousand times.

@NinaFalcone asks: “What are your thoughts on raw tomatoes?”

In a previous Tweetbag, I was asked whether I was for or against raw tomatoes, and provided a very ambiguous answer that some tomatoes are better raw and some are better cooked. So now we revisit that. Raw tomatoes are fine if they are little and in a salad. That is their optimal usage. Your traditional tomatoes—the ones that, if rotten, you would throw at Fozzie Bear after a particularly bad joke (Ed. note: Or Jesse Spector)—are about as overrated and overused as food gets.

They are an ingredient, not a food unto themselves. Cut up and put into a salad, they are inferior to their tomato cousins, grape and cherry. Sliced and added to a hamburger, they serve only to make everything wet and eventually compromise the structural integrity of the bun. The same goes for sandwiches: if you want tomato flavor, ketchup was invented for a reason. As a hand food, anyone who eats a big raw tomato is someone who I have serious questions about.

@JamesonCoop asks: “has that Mike Napoli home run landed yet?”

Which one? Napoli hit two mammoth shots on Sunday, and I’m not sure if either one remained under the control of the Earth’s gravitational pull.

@ocker1979 asks: “Greatest 80’s movie that you have watched at least 50 or more times? I go with Biff Tannen.”

I mean, it’s obviously "Back to the Future," but I like the fact that you call the movie “Biff Tannen.” I would definitely watch a reimagination of the Back to the Future franchise, told from the Tannen perspective (Ed. note: A Buford "Mad Dog" Tannen prequel would've worked).

@TBL4theCup asks: “Would you shave your head for a charity, such as Lecavalier’s fund?”

I’ve grown a beard for charity, but I’m a little nervous about the idea of shaving my head because I fear that it wouldn’t grow back. For the right cause, one that I have a real personal connection to, I would do it. Also, I would shave my head if I was a member of the crew on the Wizard and Captain Keith asked me to do it—not least of all because I saw what happened to that last greenhorn.

@SingandBreak asks: “since Comic Con is going on: Anything you ever geeked out about as a kid (or still do) (sports aside)”

I love trains, specifically the New York City subway system. I had a birthday party at the Transit Museum in Brooklyn as a kid, and one of my goals in life—seriously—was to take the train to every stop in the system before I turned 30. There are more than 400 stations, and I made it to my last one, Pelham Bay Park on the 6 train, a couple of weeks before my 30th birthday. It was a proud moment. I also enjoy taking pictures of Interstate number signs, and their state/county counterparts. Oh, and hot dogs.

@JakePlunkett asks: “why am i the way i am?”

Consulting the great American philosopher Marshall Mathers: If you weren’t, then what would you say you are?

@bib21693 asks: “will shoeless joe jackson ever be reinstated into baseball and if so, make the hall of fame?”

I don’t think it’s going to happen while Bud Selig is the commissioner, but there is always a chance when it comes to the future. Still, I wouldn’t bet on it happening anytime soon.

@bmitchelf asks: “How much less poutine will you be eating after moving to the baseball beat?”

I haven’t had poutine since I covered training camp in Montreal, so there’s not much of a decrease to be had here. The problem, again, is not having the Expos, because to get poutine, Toronto is really the only legitimate option, and even then, it’s a Quebec delicacy in Ontario.

Three periods in a hockey game, nine innings in a baseball game, so logic might dictate a 1:3 ratio applicable to mups. I hope that logic is wrong, because if I have to go through October constantly hearing Fall Out Boy commanding the world to LIGHT A MUP MUP MUP, I might not make it all the way to the World Series.